Engineering company to create 150 jobs at €7m modular plant in Bagenalstown
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Jones Engineering on the Royal Oak Road in Bagenalstown is investing €7m in a new Carlow plant that will make modular buildings, Carlow Live can reveal.
The company has created 50 new jobs at its new manufacturing and research plant in Carlow and will grow employment to 150 in the next 18 months.
The jobs have been created in engineering, design, procurement, logistics, fabrication and transportation.
The 83,000 sq ft Carlow facility manufactures prefabricated and modular units for export to countries across Europe and represents an investment of some €7 million by Jones Engineering.
Jim Curley, chief executive of Jones Engineering Group announced details of the new investment in a statement to Carlow Live.
He said: "Jones Engineering Group is one of Ireland’s oldest companies. We have survived and grown over the past 129 years by continuously investing in the development of new services that meet market demand.
"Today we employ over 2,500 people in 13 countries and our operations extend from Ireland to mainland Europe and the Middle East.
"The modular building industry is replacing traditional construction particularly in large scale developments. In a sector that is often accused of being inefficient and lacking in innovation, this is an innovative solution to achieving more sustainable construction.
"We design and manufacture on site in Carlow and then ship completed modular or prefabricated units to the construction site.
"We are currently exporting to mainland Europe and we expect the market to continue to grow. We now employ 50 people in Carlow and we expect these numbers to go to 150 over the next 18 months."
Jones Engineering Group is Ireland’s largest services firm in the Irish domestic market and has a large presence in the Middle East where it has offices in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Mainland European office is located in Utrecht. The Group also has offices in Dublin, Cork and London.
Nearly 50% of its revenues are generated overseas and its main area of activity is in large scale infrastructure projects in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, IT and data centre industries.
The Group reported turnover of €443 million in 2018 (2017: €317m) and profit after tax and amortisation of goodwill of €30 million.
Mr Curley anticipates continued growth in 2019.
He added: "This current year has seen Jones Engineering Group secure a number of significant projects and we anticipate that turnover for the current year will be in the region of €650 million.
"This growth has allowed us to employ an additional 400 people across our group operations and we continue to reinvest in the group so that we are positioned to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise.
"Our investment in our new manufacturing facility in Carlow is one example of that investment in our future," he said.
He said the group had chosen Carlow for the investment because of the county's "legacy of engineering and manufacturing industry, the presence of IT Carlow and the availability of the skilled professionals we require in our manufacturing process".